We met with the mother of Mariam Ashraf, the little girl who was shot in the chest, and whose other son, Philopateer, is at the military hospital in critical condition. We also met Mariam’s father, who was saying his goodbyes to his daughter, and with tears in his eyes said, “What can I say? My child was murdered because she wanted to attend a wedding, where she rejoiced in her new clothes along with her relatives. I have lost my daughter, and my other son is now in critical condition.”
At the morgue’s front gate, Mrs. Kamelia Helmi’s children were all in shock. Her daughters were all dressed in black, and the eldest screamed, “What have they done to deserve such a cruel death?”
Khalil George, who had lost four of his family members in the accident, stated that a car had blocked the road in front of the church, and three armed men on a motorbike approached them and opened fire on the crowd in front of the church. His mother received a shot to the heart, which led to her death, and 11 others of his family members were wounded.
He pointed out that nobody helped them, despite the area being constantly crowded with people. They found themselves amidst a “pool of blood”, as he put it, and were astonished as to how they would transport all these bodies from in front of the church.
Khalil described the incident as a “catastrophe”. He pointed out that his family is devastated, with his sickly father yet to know about his wife’s death. He blamed the government for the continued attacks on Copts, in light of their failure to take any measures to prevent crimes against Christians.
Saber Nawar, a relative of one of the victims, said they had one to attend their relative’s wedding. A group of their relatives were standing in front of the church, waiting for the bride to arrive, when they were surprised by three armed men who opened fire on them.
“We don’t know where the police is, who seem to be absent whenever an attack is made against Copts” he added, “They surrounded the church, only after the incident has occurred. The price of which are orphaned children and widowed women.” He explained, “It’s a painful thing that a joyful occasion turns into a funeral.”
We also met with Boushra Fahmi, whose brother, Samir, had been murdered. “What we have been subjected to is indescribable,” he said with tears in his eyes, “I was standing there, not knowing whether to carry my brother or my son. I still don’t know how to tell my brother, Nabil, of his daughter’s death.”
Boushra sent a message to the government in which he said, “What is to be said when Copts continue to be murdered, only for the government to condemn such actions, while the perpetrators remain unknown. We witnessed the same level of carelessness at the hospital, where we begged doctors to check on my sister-in-law, only to be completely ignored.”
Finally, Dr. Hisham Abdel Hamid told MCN that five bullets were extracted from Mariam Nabil, and other projectiles were extracted from Kamilia, while the rest of the victims’ bodies contained none, as the bullets appeared to have exited their bodies. The weapon used was proven to be an automatic weapon.
__________________________